Once Upon A Time

 

Once upon a time we would ask

Who, where, what and when

When confronted by a narrative

In which we saw a problem.

 

The simple facts about a matter

To gain some comprehension,

Yes, these four narrative keys especially

Would form our basic questions.

 

Only after these four were settled

Would we decide to move on

But nowadays when it comes to the Bible

This approach seems long gone.

 

The why and how would follow

Before the “what do you think”

But we jump to conclusions these days

Before the eye could blink.

 

We regarded the topic sentence

When we read another’s essay

But when it comes to the Bible story

Denomination points the way.

 

Primary schools are the exception

That still practise these basic tenets:

The who, where, what and when

Is still their ongoing habit.

 

Who said what and to whom?

Where was it said and when?

Why it was said and how it was said-

That’s what we asked our children.

 

The explicit became clear

As it was right there on the page

And once we had established this

We could go on to the next stage.

 

However, in studying the Bible

We attempt it in the reverse,

We interpret and then draw conclusions

Based on what we heard at first.

 

 

“The cart before the horse”

I’m sure you have heard this before,

Yes, we are still doing it today

And with the Bible, much more.

 

Revelation 13:1

 

The apostle John saw a beast

That rose up out of the sea

With seven heads, ten horns and ten crowns

And upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

 

Revelation 13:7

 

And it was given unto the beast

To make war with the saints

And power was given him over all kindreds

And tongues and nations.

 

From these two verses alone

The beast is both Empire and Emperor,

The beast is both symbolic of Rome

And its present emperor, Nero.

 

Revelation 17:11

 

The beast not only has seven heads

But is also one head as in Nero,

He is the six hundred three score and six

As in Hebrew “Neron Kaiser” shows.

 

 

The Hebrew number system

Derived its values from its alphabet,

When tallied with Neron Keiser

The following is what we get.

 

The vowels were deleted

Since there were no vowels in Hebrew,

Hence the letters NRWN QSR

Stand for Neron Kaiser too. 

 

 

Nero was the first imperial persecutor

Of the Christian church

And his name matches the number 666

As shown in this research.

 

 

You may wonder about the 616

Again, his name provides the catch,

This one is the Latin enumeration

And Nero Caesar is the match.

 

Revelation 17:10

 

There, you have it either way-

The ball lands on the sixth wonder,

Five kings are fallen, one is and one to come

That sixth king is Nero Caesar.

 

 

The seventh is not yet come-

His reign being for a short space,

Seven months was earmarked for him-

Galba fits right into this place.

 

 

Julius Caesar was the first

Followed by his great-nephew, Augustus,

Third, fourth and fifth in order:

Tiberius, Caligula and Claudius

 

“And there were seven kings

Five are fallen and one is;”

Nero was that Roman Emperor

That perfectly fits this list.

 

It was a riddle for the Romans

But surely not for John,

In just a shorth while he would have figured

 The temple and Jerusalem would be gone.

 

 

Nero Caesar was a horrible man

And was worshipped as divine

And the great tribulation of this period

Was part and parcel of his time.

 

His would not have been

A literal sitting in the Jewish temple

But the god-like stance he had taken

And how he was regarded by the people.

 

Acts 12:22-23

 

You would recall King Herod,

To the people he spoke like a god,

But Herod, in his most glorious moment,

Died like a depraved fraud.

 

And so too had Nero Caesar

Who it is alleged committed suicide,

And who, like so many are forced to realize,

God is God and there’s none besides.

 

And what about the mark

Without which no Jew may buy or sell?

Well Nero’s image was on the coins inscribed

As the history of the time did tell.

 

 

During the reign of Nero Caesar

The coinage system was under reform

Hence, at the time of John’s writing,

Nero’s image was on the coins.

 

You would recall the question

That the disciples had posed to Jesus,

Should they pay the Roman tax

As required by Caesar Augustus?

 

Rend to Caesar what is Caesar’s

Was what Jesus had replied

After Caesar’s image was on the coin

That the disciple had supplied.

 

Revelation 13:18

 

Here is wisdom:

Let him that have understanding

Count the number of the beast

For it is the number of a man

And his number is

Six hundred three score and six.

 

Once upon a time,

Though not your usual story line,

Happened as the book Revelation records

And the Tribulation was at that time.

 

 

The millennium kingdom came to earth

With the advent of Pentecost

Where the Holy Spirit, another like Christ

Came to save the lost.

 

The millennium will be complete

When Satan is temporarily released

And then bound again forever

And when time will forever cease.

 

The beast of Revelation is not future

Neither the number of a man 666,

Hopefully I have shown in this poetic discourse

A futuristic position just does not fit.

 

Stewart Russell © March 6, 2021